Striker tool



April 15, 1958 w. J. BLUE ET AL STRIKER TOOL Filed Feb. 9, 1955 0. mwa MMa m m aw W 2,830,449 Patented Apr.15 ,1 '9 5 8 Uni d tews fiif i Thepresent invention relates generally as indicated to a striker tool, andmore particularly to such toolwhich is adapted for wearing on the thumbor other finger for conveniently striking the horizontal and verticaljoints during erection of masonry walls.

It is the present practice in the masonry art to emplo sweaters, or thelike. Obviously, the function of this elastic portion 4 of the tool issimply to snugly engage the thumb so that the tool will notdroptherefrom during normaliuse. Therefore, insofar as the present inventionis concerned, the body 1 of the tool may be secured to the 1 w thumbbydraw strings or the like instead of the cuff shown a bar-like strikertool or a. tuck pointing trowel which must be alternately set asideafter use and then picked up after additional courses of blocks orbricks have been laid. Likewise, the brick-layer usually sets aside histrowel or other tool in order to have a free hand for manipulation ofthe striker tool.

It is one principal object of this invention to provide a striker toolwhich may be constantly worn on the ma sons or bricklayers thumb withoutinterfering with the normal use of the trowel and without requiringsetting aside of the trowel, because the handle of the latter may yet begripped by the remaining four fingers of the same hand. Moreover, themason, if he so desires, may use his thumb with the present striker toolthereon to assist in the gripping of the trowel whereby said tool, ineffect constitutes a false thumb or an extension thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent as the following description pro ceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention,then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims, the following description andthe annexed drawings setting forth in detail a certain illustrativeembodiment of the invention, this being indicative, however, of

but one of a few of the various ways in which the prin ciple of theinvention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

Fig. l is a top plan view of the present striker tool;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation view of the tool as viewed upwardly from thelower end of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view of the tool as viewed from the righthandside of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the tool hereincomprises a generally oval or elliptical body 1 having a recess 2therein open at one end for insertion of the thumb thereinto, the recess2 preferably being of generally oval or elliptical cross-section toconform to herein. In fact, the body 1 of the tool may, if desired, be

secured over, or substitutedfor, the thumb of a glove" or mitten.

' The body 1- ofrthe tool is preferably made of a hardwear-resistingmaterial such as steel, but it may aslwell be of some other materialincluding'rigid or flexible plas tics, wood,=or'any comparable material.Accordingly,

the manner of securing the'cuif 4.to the body ltofv the tool will dependsomewhat on the particular material from which the tool body is made;that is, if plastic material were employed as the body material, thecuff may be cemented thereto. On the other hand, if the tool body 1 weremade of metal, it may be preferred to rivet the cuff 4 thereto or elseto secure the same by other means such as, for example, forming a groovein the periphery of the tool adjacent the open end thereof and employinga band or wire which grips the cuff in such groove.

The closed or working end of the tool body 1 comprises, when it isdesired to provide rounded, inset mortar joints with a correspondinglyrounded, axially projecting rib 5 which extends transversely across themajor transverse axis of the tool body 1 and which is preferablytransversely coextensive with the body 1. Thus, horizontal joints may beconveniently struck simply by moving the thumb horizontally in eitherdirection with the thumb the normal transverse cross-section shape ofthe thumb,

4 which is adapted to snugly embrace the thumb in an I area between thefirst and second joints.

Said cuff-like portion 4 of the tool may be of gathered fabric having anelastic element therein, or it may be of corrugated elastic material, orit may be of woven fabric comparable to that usually employed on thecutfs of gloves,

nail facing upwardly and, if desired, the tool may be moved horizontallywith the longitudinal axis of the tool body 1. The thumb may beobliquely disposed with respect to the surface of the wall under.construction rather than perpendicular to such surface.

In addition to the aforesaid rib or projection 5, there is another rib 6which, as shown, isnormal to rib 5 and which extends across the minortransverse axis of said body 1 and radially therebeyond. Said rib 6extends 1ongitudinally of body 1 and terminates short of the end of rib5, whereby the end surfaces 7 of rib 6 serve as stops or guides todetermine the depth of striking of the joints when the rib 5 is used ason the horizontal joints.

Either side of said cross rib 6 may conveniently be used for strikingvertical mortar joints simply by moving the hand in a vertical plane upor down with the thumbnail facing upwardly and inclined eitherdownwardly toward the wall surface or downwardly away from wall surfaceso that the mason has the option of working from the bottom up or fromthe top down in the vertical joints.

In the case of the rib 6 aforesaid, full depth of striking outof'mort-ar therewith is achieved by having the longi-.

tudinal axis of the tool body 1 disposed substantially in a verticalposition so that the side portions 8 of the other rib 5 which projecttransversely serve as depth guides; and, of course, the depth ofstriking with rib 6 will become progressively less as the tool bodylongitudinal axis is tilted away from the wall.

It will be apparent that the rib 5 alone may be employed in striking outthe mortar from both horizontal and vere tical joints simply by turningthe hand so that the opposite sides of the thumb face respectivelyupward and downward, and this is a preferred manner of use of the toolherein, since in both instances, that is, in the striking of horizontaland vertical joints, the thumb is moved in a horizontal and verticalplane and may be perpendicularly or obliquely disposed with respect tothe line of the joint without noticeably affecting the depth and shapeof the joint recessed thereby.

As evident, the thickness of ribs 5 and 6 will be the same or less thanthe thickness of the mortar joint so that g the' ribends--ma'y-enter-theioint to the desired eri tent.

Straight inset joints-may. beaformedbymsingmttoolim may" be 'employed,"change. being: made asiregardstthe de.

tailszdescrib'ed; provided the featuresstated'iin the=f0l16w ing claim,or-theequivalent of such, be employedti 1 we thereforeparticularlypointout ahddistinctlYwlaini: 10 as-ourinvention: 1

'A- striker? tool for masonry joints comprising a: body: formed with athumb-receiving recess in one end of gen erally ellipticalcross-sectiontshape conforming approkimatelrtotheflcross-section shapeand size ofi 'a-1persons 15 thumb, 1 with diametrically opposedtaxial lribs above and beiownthe minor-1. axis 50f "such: recess terminating inend shoulder surfaces-at. the otherendof said body, and withaatransverse rib; whose axis coincides with :the major axis' ofsuchrecess, said transverse rib projecting beyond the surfaces;andflhavingaann outer. surface. adapted to point athorizontal mortar.joint to a depth determined by the shoulder surfaces upon movement ofthe thumb laterally, said axial ribs adapted to point vertical mortarjoints to a depth determined by the height of said axial ribs from therespective sides of said transverse rib upon vertical movement ofthetthumb'.

References Cltediimthe fil of this patent UNIT ED, STATES PATENTS D.138,926 Reid .....Sept. 26, 1944 1,262,018 conin's Apr. 9, 19181,509,457 Wickhama Sept. 23, 1924 1,547,863 Dulin July 28, 1925 FOREIGNPATENTS Canada Sept. 22, 1953

